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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28825500">day and night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/waffleplier/pseuds/waffleplier'>waffleplier</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>w’s one-shots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Car Accidents, Character Death, Complicated Relationships, Death, Heaven &amp; Hell, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, au where daichi was never captain, sugawara as karasuno’s captain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:22:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,231</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28825500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/waffleplier/pseuds/waffleplier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“i want to hold you tight, so when you have long days, the person who makes you take a break, i hope it’s me.”</p><p>or</p><p>a story of how sawamura daichi becomes death and the first soul he has to capture is sugawara koushi’s.</p><p>❂ lowercase is intentional ❂</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sawamura Daichi/Reader, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>w’s one-shots [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110026</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>day and night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"who are you?"</p><p>"i am death," you replied.</p><p>you and daichi sat in a white room at a white table with white chairs. you are dressed in withered, black robes, making you stand out more than usual. thankfully, you've gotten over any insecurities you had. you don't really care for what the world thinks of you as you've been dead for over 400 years now. you thought that once you're gone, it's all over. you saw life and what it had to offer so now you had the chance to sleep for eternity. instead, you were given a tiring job, collecting more souls to enter into heaven or hell.</p><p>
  <em>sawamura daichi - 18 years old - death by vehicular accident.</em>
</p><p>you were truly saddened having to stand and watch him get hit. the cars had stopped in front of the cross walk in which he had to cross to get to school. you followed behind, waiting for the moment to occur. if you hadn't been doing this for nearly four centuries, it would have taken you by surprise. it was as if the brakes on the bus had failed, crashing into the car in front of it and crushing sawamura underneath the heavy vehicle. it was an instant death and you collected his soul as his heart stopped. you trapped him in a small bottle and then took him to the waiting room where the two of you sat now. you set the bottle on the table and you noted his soul was red. you smiled to yourself - daichi had been a man full of love, passion, and strength. his only weakness seemed to be anger and stress. you had released his energy and now his broad figure sat before you. his question was one everyone asked the second they saw you.</p><p>"d-death? i'm..."</p><p>you nodded. he couldn't quite make out your face or any part of your body. if only he could see the devastation in your eyes as you felt sorrow for the young man. it never failed to sadden you when you collected another life. seeing the new soul before you take in that their life had come and gone in a flash was something you could never get used to. although they wanted to cry, the newcomers no longer had the same human capabilities of expressing their emotions. you had learned this long ago, never once shedding a tear for all the tragic moments you had witnessed even if you still felt the sorrow and frustration for them.</p><p>"you were a good man, sawamura daichi. i made sure to collect your soul as soon as it came to me. i can tell you'll end up in the right hands."</p><p>daichi sighed. where he'd usually feel the pounding of his heart when he was distressed and anxious, it was no longer there. he felt overwhelmed and hopeless, but at the same time, confusingly calm. although you could see the guilt in his eyes for having to leave behind his friends and family, you knew he'd soon forget about them. everyone who entered heaven or hell forgot about their life and moved on. as death, though, you had to bare the pain of taking your family's souls. being stuck in purgatory, you watched generations of your family grow into beautiful humans, changing the world in little ways.</p><p>your scythe as you conjured it in your right hand. you tapped the floor twice with it and a stairwell with a guard dressed in white appeared. your head turned and daichi followed your gaze to find the tall guard waiting with a clipboard. they were the guardian of heaven and hell. once it was decided whether daichi should stay in purgatory or continue on would soon be decided. daichi looked back at you with his eyes widening. it suddenly had hit him that his life had really ended. should he leave purgatory, the male would never remember the life and souls that made him who he was.</p><p>"daichi," you started.</p><p>his eyes struggled to meet yours when a chessboard appeared on the table. it looked brand new. every figure was polished and there wasn't a single crease in the board. each piece was perfectly centered in their square, waiting for a new game to begin. little did daichi know that you had been using this same chessboard since you had become death. he swallowed nervously and now began to wonder what you were up to.</p><p>"as the rules state, each soul that is met with death must also face a final game of chess. it often goes by quickly, as many have not played in their lifetime or lack the skill to beat me. should i win, you will be greeted by peter, who will guide you to either heaven or hell."</p><p>daichi looked over at the guard once again. it was then that he noticed the stairwells led up a few flights... or down a few. he shifted in his seat, uncomfortably thinking of all the stories of demons from hell. you smiled as you listened in on his thoughts. you couldn't help it. as death, you had the ability to hear and interpret thoughts.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> it helped you write out the stories of each life you were assigned to take.</span></p><p>"should you win," you continued, snapping daichi out of false realities of hell that humans had created. "you shall be granted an opportunity that will allow you to continue seeing life as you know it."</p><p>sawamura's eyebrows furrowed. <em>an opportunity?</em> he wondered if you meant another chance of life. if you'd grant his soul back to him and he'd continue on his journey to school, making sure not to cross the road where he had died. underneath your masked face, you smiled to yourself once again. long ago, you had the same thoughts. if only you hadn't been so naive.a quarter appeared in your hands and daichi now stared at the coin.</p><p>"heads or tails?"</p><p>"why can't i just go to heaven or hell?"</p><p>you sighed. you wished they'd give you pamphlets to hand out. having to explain the rules of purgatory was awfully boring after doing it for 400 years. you shook your head in amusement as daichi stared at you, completely perplexed. if he had known he would have to play a silly game to decide his fate after death, he would have been a little more careful crossing the road.</p><p>"as per usual, i have to explain rules written by god himself. if only he had been better at teaching you humans, but a couple mistranslations and here we are. i wonder what it is with humans and your religious wars."</p><p>you had whispered the last part but daichi's face still contorted with puzzlement. you sighed and thought of the best way to explain to daichi what was happening.</p><p>"you are currently in the middle ground of heaven and hell called purgatory. i, as death, bring each soul here to decide whether or not they should be given a different opportunity other than joining the afterlife as angels or demons. it all depends on whether you have the skill, intelligence, and determination to win the third opportunity."</p><p>"so, my soul is bet on whether or not i can beat you at chess?"</p><p>you could hear the sarcasm in his voice. you nodded and watched as the male shook his head, clearly disappointed. you listened in as he thought, <em>maybe i should have just stayed home sick today.</em> he sighed and looked back up at your masked face. he looked at the coin in your hand and finally decided to continue on. if he wanted to know the third opportunity, he'd have to use the last of his luck to beat you.</p><p>"heads."</p><p>you gave him a smirk and flipped the coin, catching it in your palm and flipping it a final time on the back of your hand. you glanced at the coin and then at the curious male.</p><p>"heads it is. you may have the first move."</p><p>although time was very much irrelevant in purgatory, it was as though hours had gone by. it felt like the longest game you had played in years. you often came across very talented chess players, but you had been improving your observational skills since your first game. still, you had to admit that daichi had incredible patience and concentration. your opponent calculated his moves carefully, making sure you couldn't read which piece he would touch next. even if you were clever enough to trick him, sawamura only attacked with much more intensity. he was set on winning against death.</p><p>"checkmate.”</p><p>you looked up to find smug expression on the male's face. the smirk on his face soon disappeared when you stood up and removed your robes. you were dressed in all white underneath and you looked to be not a day older since your passing. daichi stood up as well and he finally caught the pleased expression on your face as you handed the withered robes to him.</p><p>"finally. it's been 400 years since i beat the last guy and i became death."</p><p>you forced the robes in his hands before walking around to stand next to him. a mirror appeared before the two of you and he stared at himself. he was lucky to have grown up to be a handsome male, never having to worry about wrinkles appearing on his clean face since he’d look 18 for the rest of his afterlife. he’d be lucky if he found a cute angel or demon to cuddle up with after he manages to leave purgatory, as you had done now.</p><p>you looked at him through the mirror while he looked over at you. your eyes met his and you could now sense even more fear and confusion.</p><p>"put them on. let's see how you look."</p><p>"what did you mean by the third opportunity?"</p><p>"wasn't it obvious? i didn't end up in heaven or hell because i won a game against the last grim reaper. bastard always comes back from hell thanking me for freeing him. it's always when he's drunk so it's just mindless rambling."</p><p>daichi rubbed the nape of his neck before staring at himself in the mirror. his knuckles were turning white from harshly gripping onto the robes in his arms. he only looked at you again when you chuckled at his behavior.</p><p>"w-why didn't you just let your other opponents win?"</p><p>"pfft, don't you think i've tried? i did when i started out but then i got in trouble by the big guys. they're pretty strict when it comes to following the rules. now hurry and put them on. i have to show you the robes of being death before i leave.”</p><p>when he crossed his arms and showed no interest in putting on the clothes you had given him, you rolled your eyes. with a snap of your fingers, daichi had the robes wrapped around him, his identity now mysteriously hidden. it would keep him protected from humans seeing him as he worked as death. you had been around humans long enough to hear their silly stories of seeing the grim reaper, but not once had there been a case where death had appeared to a human. even as you capture their souls, they never see behind the face underneath the robes. all hell would break loose and god would never let death see their end if that happened.</p><p>"what now?"</p><p>you jumped at the sound of sawamura's tone. clearly you had already forgotten about his red aura and he was feeling extremely agitated. you shook your head as he stared in disbelief. hearing he had died had overwhelmed him, but now becoming death itself had sent him into a panic. you reached behind him to pat his back and he looked over at you, eyes full of misery. you sympathized with him, knowing fully well that until someone freed him from purgatory, daichi would still feel human emotions. the uneasiness of having to take another human's life would not fade for a long, long time.</p><p>"come now. your first soul awaits."</p><p>you took ahold of his arm and he wondered where you were guiding him to. the room was blank and items only appeared when you conjured them. it seemed as though you were leading him to nowhere until you found a door. you opened it with a single thought and walked inside. daichi looked around to find shelves and shelves of what looked to be books. he looked to the side of the entrance where there was a desk with a couple more books stacked on top. you looked over to the male, who was wondering what they were.</p><p>"do you see all of those shelves? those are lives that have already ended, many in heaven or hell as we speak. some souls keep their books to read to other people, but others just want to forget and have fun in the afterlife. there are others who don't have their books yet because they also work as death. obviously you can't do all the work on your own, so you'll make a couple of friends as you learn the ropes around here."</p><p>you then moved over to sit in front of the desk and picked up one of the books. your fingers traced the cover where a constellation was engraved on the front. you smiled softly to yourself as your fingers then traced the name written at the top of the book. you gestured to daichi to come around and he did. he looked at the cover of the book you held. he didn't recognize the constellation on the cover, but the name at the top was written in kanji. his head cocked when he saw it read, <em>sugawara koushi</em>.</p><p>"this is your first soul. his time is coming to end soon and if you notice, he's missing a star. the line will slowly draw itself to find the next star to complete his constellation.  you'll come with me to find him and watch until his final star appears. once it does, you'll have to capture his soul into one of these."</p><p>a small bottle appeared in your hands. you took his wrist and opened his palm to place the bottle in his hand. he was careful not to drop it, unsure if it would break or not in purgatory.</p><p>"you'll learn other skills as you continue training as death. maybe you'll be here for a long time or you'll get to become an angel or demon soon. it all depends. for now, i'll come with you to find sugawara and i'll show you how to capture his soul when his time arrives. it's simple, so don't worry about messing up."</p><p>you held the book close to your body and grabbed onto daichi's arm once again. soon the two of you appeared in front of a school gym. you felt the male tense under your touch and you glanced over at him. although the robe covered most his face, you could still see his pained eyes.</p><p>"t-this is my school. this is karasuno high's gym."</p><p>you looked over, noticing the concern written all over his face. you were about to speak up when two males came out of the gym. both were tall but one appeared to be a lot younger than the other. you opened the book in your arms to find the picture within the first few pages. as you examined the male's face, you realized that daichi's first encounter as death would have to be with a classmate he may or may not know. you looked over at him and you realized he most certainly did know sugawara.</p><p>"i was in his class... he's usually pretty quiet but he's a good student. the only thing i really knew about him was he's the captain of the volleyball team. i never knew because he was so quiet. his teammates said he's a lot louder around them and at games."</p><p>you reached over to daichi and rubbed his back as he realized his first soul he would have to capture was a peer's. even if the two weren't close, you could tell daichi felt immense sorrow for sugawara. if he had known this was what his third opportunity was, he wouldn't have concentrated as hard as he had done moments ago.</p><p>"i'm sorry, daichi. i understand your concerns but i can assure you that once you take his soul, he will rest easy. i took care of your soul and..."</p><p>you stopped as you realized you didn't sound very reassuring to daichi. he only looked sadly as the two males talked. he recognized the grey-haired male. many girls talked about how pretty he was, especially because of the small beauty mark on his eye. he was quiet, but the girls in his class admired his ambitious effort of studying hard and being an amazing athlete. he wondered how those girls would feel once sugawara’s time came to an end.</p><p>"ukai-san, i know you are only acting as our temporary coach but... kageyama proves to have much more talent than anyone on the team. as captain, i want to make sure the team has the best opportunity to get to nationals and... if that means making him the official setter, it'll take it."</p><p>sugawara's fingers twiddled as his coach sighed, scratching the back of his neck and looking away from the captain. <em>even if the other teams see me as a weak captain</em>, the younger male thought, <em>i want my team to be the best on the court</em>. daichi wondered if he had truly heard sugawara's thoughts or he had thought it himself. he heard you laugh and looked over at you, a grin spreading across your face.</p><p>"as death, you can seen into your the soul's mind. that’s why there’s many books. you help finish writing out their flute if one can see into their thoughts."</p><p>daichi nodded, looking at the coach and sugawara once again. <em>please hear me out, ukai-san</em>, daichi heard, <em>i want my boys to have a better chance than i did these past years</em>. the older male nodded and gave the captain a comforting smile. he pat his arm and sugawara realized he had gotten through to their coach.</p><p>"you're a good kid. all of you are. if you know what's best for the team, then i'll keep in mind everything you said. thank you."</p><p>"no, thank <em>you</em>, ukai-san! i'll make sure we all continue improving and we'll prove ourselves out there!"</p><p>with that, sugawara gave the coach a bow before going back into the gym. daichi followed you inside and watched as sugawara advised the boys to start with spiking warm ups before moving onto team building exercises. the male dressed in death's suit simply watched with sad eyes. how could a captain showcasing so much enthusiasm for his team have such little time left?</p><p>sugawara stood on the court, a few feet away from his kouhai and competition, kageyama. you and daichi could only hear tactical thoughts for awhile, as suga took mental notes of his team. the two of you mindlessly watched and you glanced at the cover of sugawara's book from time to time. the line didn't seem to make much progress, but it soon grew when the coach called out a few compliments.</p><p>"keep it up, kageyama! your form looks amazing!"</p><p>"your serves are looking better, tadashi!"</p><p>"nice line shot, tanaka!"</p><p>
  <em>huh, as always, everyone but the pitiful captain is noticed. if only i had the same talents as tobio... if only i had put more effort into practicing when i was younger... if only...</em>
</p><p>daichi could tell the captain was slowly putting on much more plastic smiles as practice went on. his eyes didn't crinkle when he smiled at nishinoya's jokes or at hinata's energy. he'd laugh with the others but as he turned away from the group, sugawara's mouth fell into a frown.</p><p>soon, practice ended and the coach asked everyone to gather up. as sugawara gathered the boys up, they sat together on the floor while their captain blankly stared at the back in front of him.</p><p>
  <em>here it comes. the pity i'll get for being a benched captain. i don't mind kageyama being the official setter but why do i feel so angry at him? why do i feel like such a failure to my team?</em>
</p><p>their coach reveals the lineup for an upcoming practice match. he explains that they may end up keeping it for official matches once the season begins. as the team looks through the names on the court, each member starts to question their coach's decision.</p><p>"wait, how come suga isn't on there? he's our captain and a third-year!"</p><p>a laugh escapes sugawara's mouth. the team all look at their captain curiously as another false smile appears on his face.</p><p>"i know you all must be confused. i assumed it must have been a tough decision for coach, so i took it upon myself to talk to him. as captain, i want our team to have the best shot at going to nationals and if that means kageyama stands on the court with his amazing talents, then i'm fine watching from the sidelines. as long as you guys are having fun and winning, i'm happy."</p><p>most of the team look at their captain with sympathetic smiles, thanking him for the opportunity. the rowdier boys of the group begin to praise their new official setter while sugawara watched with a soft, warm smile. although daichi can tell he's somewhat happy that his kouhai was granted a place on the court, he notes that through his body language and certain thoughts that sugawara pities himself for not working as hard as kageyama.</p><p>practice ends and soon you find yourself watching over sugawara with daichi. the captain lies in his bed, earbuds plugged into his cellphone as he blasts music to drown out the thoughts. as the bass pounds into his head, sugawara soon found teas streaming down his face. as daichi sat in a seat near his bed, he couldn't help but listen to the captain's thoughts.</p><p>
  <em>why is it that the year we have the most potential, i feel weaker and unmotivated. i feel like such a burden around the others, not having as much potential to give them. i don't have as much talent as kageyama and they must think i'm the most inexperienced captain for giving up my spot to him. i've been giving it my all these past few years and it feels like such a waste. every day, i just want to stay in this bed and spend it here instead of wasting everybody’s time. i'm already such a waste of space, i might as well spend it here. every day at practice just feels like a waste to me. even our new coach has more to offer than i ever could.</em>
</p><p>so, as sugawara sat in his thoughts, wiping away tears and wondering why he spent so long wasting his team's time with no real talent to offer, you and daichi watched the line on his book move closer to find sugawara's final star.</p><p>❂</p><p>the captain had called in sick the next day, advising the coach and team that he had fallen ill over night. it was true that sugawara was not feeling well and you and daichi could tell he was emotionally unavailable. he was strong enough to get himself out of bed when his stomach begged for food. although he didn't have much energy to make himself a big breakfast, he tried to eat as much as he could.</p><p>the two of you then followed sugawara to a daycare. many students volunteered there for club activities, while suga had always been going there. as a child, he was often left there with play mates while his parents were busy at work. as he grew older, the captain stayed at home studying or went to practice volleyball with his team. he rarely saw his parents, only occasionally sitting down to eat with them.</p><p>sugawara occasionally came back as a volunteer to play with the children. he often found himself talking to children that were excluded from small groups or played by themselves. they slowly opened up to the older boy when he offered to play with them. today was no exception, with a small girl remembering her favorite senpai. as sugawara picked up the small girl that was hugging his leg, daichi could tell that the bright smile on his face was genuine this time.</p><p>"kou-chan, you're back! i thought you didn't wanna come play with me anymore."</p><p>"hello, angel! i've been busy with big kid stuff, but i was free today. y’know i'll always come back to see you, emi-chan. let's go outside and we can play volleyball like always. is that okay?"</p><p>"mhm! let's go!"</p><p>daichi smiled underneath the masked robes as the two of you sat outside watching sugawara play volleyball with the girl. you looked down at sugawara's cover and the line had stopped moving. another star had appeared and the line was much closer than you expected. you knew that with the final star now appearing on the cover, today would be sugawara's final day on earth. spending it with children to cheer him up for one final time made your cold soul warm up a little. often times you found yourself wondering if times like these could change someone's fate, but the stars never changed paths. in your 400 years as death, not once has a constellation changed it’s path.</p><p>yet, daichi couldn’t help but think maybe there was a way to change the constellations. the only problem was death had no way of knowing how someone’s end until it arrived. although daichi had some assumptions based on sugawara's character, death had no way of knowing when to capture a soul until the constellation was complete. so, daichi had to throw away the thought when you reached out and touched his arm.</p><p>"i wish we could stop some lives from ending, but the earth would become overpopulated if we did. he will be alright."</p><p>so, as you and daichi watched sugawara's final smile appear on his face, the line slowly crept it's way to the final star of the constellation.</p><p>❂</p><p>death loomed over sugawara as he slipped off his shoes and slowly into his house. the line had hardly moved, but occasionally thoughts that sugawara had made you think that his time was near. daichi fiddled with the small, glass bottle in his hand. daichi wished he could do something, but as you continued explaining, he knew there wasn't anything he could do. interfering with the stars would only create trouble.you both carefully trailed behind sugawara, who was awoken from his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.</p><p>"koushi! honey, i’m home early and i made some dinner! i heard you weren't feeling well so i made your favorite!"</p><p>sugawara made his way into the kitchen where he saw his mother setting plates down for the two of them to eat. she shuffled over to her son, slipper dragging across the floor as she embraced him. he awkwardly hugged her back, a frown still prominent on his face. he sat down at the table with his mother as she fondly looked at him. his eyes shifted from the wall to the food before him, feeling odd that his mom was being so caring. sugawara was used to eating a lot less food in a quieter home. he still said his thank you's with his mother and slowly ate. he glanced up and daichi noticed his ears turn pink when suga realized his mom was staring.</p><p>"mom, is everything okay?"</p><p>she perked up, scratching her face and turning to look away. as sugawara put another spoonful of rice in his mouth, his mother finally spoke up.</p><p>"i'm fine! i was just wondering when you were having your next game! i was so happy when you said you were captain this year and i wanted to make some time to come watch your games."</p><p>sugawara stopped chewing. his ears turned a darker shade of red and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. as he realized that he had to fess up the truth to his mom, he couldn't help but feel his heart break. he knew what was coming. you looked at the cover of his book and wondered if the line had moved. you hadn't been watching, too invested in listening to save details for sugawara's book. the male cleared his throat once he swallowed the remaining bits of food. he rubbed his face before speaking up.</p><p>"you don't have to come to my games, mom. it'll just be a waste of time."</p><p>"koushi! now, why would you say such a thing! are you embarrassed of having to play in front of your mother?"</p><p>"no, it’s just... i might not play at all."</p><p>his mother looked over at her son, eyes widening and setting her chopsticks down. you and daichi couldn't hear her thoughts, but through her body language, the two of you could assume she was feeling rather disappointed by his words.</p><p>"what do you mean? don't tell me you quit during your last year."</p><p>sugawara bit his lip and shook his head, eyes blank and staring at the wooden table before him. underneath the table, his fists were clenched and daichi could hear him repeating to himself, <em>just tell her</em>. he took a deep breath, pushing down the lump in his throat.</p><p>"i didn't quit. i-i'm not going to be playing on the starting line-up. there's another first year setter that i think works a lot better with our team so... i asked coach to put him in instead of me."</p><p>"but you're the captain!"</p><p>"yeah... a <em>benched</em> captain."</p><p>his mother bit her cheek, glancing around the room as her knee bounced up and down. you and daichi wondered why she must be so upset. she seemed to be much more upset than sugawara was. sugawara continued to stare at the table in front of him, his head down and acting like a dog with its’ tail in between its’ legs. as daichi moved to look at sugawara’s face, he could see his eyes had started to fill up with tears.</p><p>
  <em>i know i’m a disappointment, but damn it! just say it already!</em>
</p><p>"you're right. it would be a waste of my time."</p><p>
  <em>she just had to say it like that.</em>
</p><p>"what kind of captain are you? how could you give up your spot to a first year, koushi? he has more time than you do for you to be putting him in. tsk, i should have known it was a waste of my time letting you go to those volleyball practices after school."</p><p>enraged, sugawara stood up, causing the table the table to shake and his mother to look up in panic. the tears were flowing down his face and he sniffled. his hands were clenched by his side and daichi could hear him planning out what he was saying. it took him by surprise when sugawara burst out with the first thing that came to his mind.</p><p>"a waste of <em>your</em> time? what about me? haven't you seen how long i've been trying to put on a perfect act for you? i always come home with perfect grades, a perfect attitude, perfect everything! you're not even here most of the time so wasn't it just a waste of <em>my</em> time to have spent all those years trying to become the best player only to get outshined by a stupid first year who couldn't even work with his own teammates to begin with? wasn't i the one wasting all my time trying to become captain just so you'd come to my games, only to give up being the setter so my team would have a better change to go to nationals? what the hell do you mean it was a waste of <em>your</em> time?"</p><p>daichi could see the rage and disappointment spread on his mother's face. her face was bright red, angry at sugawara's outburst. she stands up so her son wasn't towering over her. as he wipes away the tears falling his face, holding in sobs as he does, she begins to speak.</p><p>"don't you know how hard i work too? huh! all of this doesn't just get handed to me, koushi! i have to work day and night to provide for you and help your father out. i'm sorry that i can't always be home or go to your games, but have some respect for your mother."</p><p>daichi watched as sugawara's jaw clenched, holding back the thoughts in his head, wishing he could continue the conversation. guilt seeped through his veins when his mother said this. as much as he tried not to, he felt horrible for speaking out against his mother. yet he felt angry that she hadn't understood his point. she had completely flipped the script, making sugawara feel worse about himself. you looked down at his book cover as it became quiet. the line slowly grew closer and closer to the star.</p><p>in his mind, all sugawara could think was, <em>i should just leave and never turn back</em>. it repeated in his mind over and over again until it happened. he threw his chair back and ran out of the house. he slammed the door behind him as you and daichi hurriedly followed behind sugawara. you continued glancing at the cover of the book, noting that the line nearly touched the final star.</p><p>daichi, on the other hand, wondered where suga was going. how did his story end? would his mother ever forgive herself for letting sugawara leave?</p><p>you reached out to daichi as the two of you ran behind sugawara. the wind was cold and it only felt colder outside as death followed the captain. sugawara suddenly stopped, panting and taking in his final breaths. he had stopped at a bridge. as the freezing air burned his throat, suga looked over the edge. he grabbed onto the railing and thought, <em>if i jump from up here, would it kill me?</em></p><p>as the line inched closer to the star, you knew it would. you and daichi stood watching the male. you turned to look at death, eyes widened as he knew what was coming. daichi wanted to stop him. he wanted to tell him he didn't have to leave this way. he mattered to the world more than he knew. daichi saw it when the little girl's eyes lit up when sugawara played volleyball with him. how could sugawara not see it? you stopped daichi when he moved closer to sugawara. you knew what he was doing. he looked at you in panic and you shook your head.</p><p>"it's okay. he'll be okay."</p><p>sugawara continued staring below. he continued thinking the same thing over and over again. <em>i don’t want to let my team down, but i feel so weak. would they even care if their weak captain disappeared? </em>he didn't think so. his mother had already said everything he had done had been a waste of her time. everyone else must feel the same way. his feet began to help him climb the railing. his eyes were glossy but he didn't wipe away the tears as they fell down his cold cheeks. he didn't care if it hurt. he just wanted it to stop the thoughts. every thought he had only continue telling him he wasn't good enough. as he looked up at the night sky, he saw a bright constellation. the same one on his book that had finally formed when the line met the final star. sugawara sighed and thought, <em>i hope i'll be a star once i'm gone.</em></p><p>"no!"</p><p>daichi ripped his arm away from you, the small glass bottle shattering as he ran to sugawara. everything seemed to go in slow motion as the book, daichi, and sugawara fell back onto the concrete together. daichi had wrapped his arms around the boy's waist and pulled him off the railing. as daich held on tightly to sugawara, you watched with your jaw on the floor. not once since life had begun had something like this happened. not once had you heard of death stopping one's life from ending. yet, daichi had interfered with the star's plans to save sugawara.</p><p>"please, you don't have end your story like this."</p><p>the captain, taken by surprise turned his head to look at the person who had stopped him. he was taken by surprise when he saw the hidden figure under withered robes. daichi, pulling off the hood and the mask over his face, sat up with sugawara still in his arms. he wasn’t sure how, but he could feel the warmth of suga’s body against his. their finally met eyes as daichi admired the small beauty mark like all the other girls in his class had done. daichi wondered if suga knew how beautiful he was, inside and out.</p><p>both of the boys only stared at each other until sugawara could finally bring himself to talk.</p><p>"who are you?"</p><p>"i am death."</p>
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